Ms. Irene Cassidy

Research Interests

I have collaborated with colleagues to undertake research around lecturers' experiences of facilitating guided group reflection. I was involved in all aspects of the research including the design, planning, ethical approval, sampling, data collection and analysis, discussion and publication. This study was published in Nurse Education Today (Impact factor 1.641). The findings are extremely relevant to nurse education particularly given the emphasis on reflection within the current curriculum.

I collaborated with colleagues by undertaking research with post registration students around their experiences of caring for people from different cultures. This was an exciting study that generated very interesting and relevant findings for practice. Again I was involved in all aspects of the study including the planning timeframes, ethical approval, sampling, data and analysis, discussion and preparation for publication.

I worked with colleagues (UL and health services) in a mixed methods study to explore student nurses' and preceptors' experiences of the competency assessment process. This project demonstrated my ability to conduct research with clinical service partners including data collection (postal surveys and focus groups), data analysis (statistical and qualitative analysis) and preparation of findings for publication. There have been five journal publications from the study (I was the principal author for one of these papers) aswell as several oral and poster presentations. Findings from this study have been widely disseminated nationally and internationally.

My MSc research was entitled student nurses' experiences of caring for infectious isolated patients. I had to create my own data analysis framework to ensure that the qualitative methods used were congruent with the philosophical underpinnings inherent within a Gadamerian approach dissertation. I am a reviewer for Journal of Clinical Nursing, Nurse Education Today, British Journal Nursing.